BILLERICA, Mass., Nov. 4,
2002 – You can say that Continuum
Photonics Inc. has bounced from one idea to another.
The company was founded in 1998 as a product development
shop, making vibration-dampening equipment for the aerospace
and defense industries. Then came a foray into athletics:
Continuum designed a chipset that went into tennis rackets,
sold by Head NV, that helps absorb the
shock of a ball.
Up next: the risky business of telecommunications.
Continuum is using its experience in materials science to
develop a “smart ceramic” switching component for optical
networks. While executives are tight-lipped about the
particulars, they say it will use MEMS to cut signal loss
dramatically. They're aiming for customers such as Lucent
Technologies, Cisco
Systems Inc. or Nortel
Networks Corp., which would resell the gear to telecom
carriers eager to cut their signal-regeneration costs.
Despite skepticism from some corners of the telecom
industry, the idea has gained attention. Continuum raised $14
million in venture capital in early July from Harris
& Harris Group Inc., Flagship Ventures,
Arcadian Venture Partners and others. It also pulls in
revenues of several million dollars a year, thanks to
licensing deals such as the Head project. The company has 42
employees.
Continuum calls its technology DirectLight
SmartSilicon. It uses lead zicronate titanate as the
ceramic substrate, which can expand or shrink as electric
charges are supplied. Embedded silicon MEMS devices do the
grunt work of sending signals along the network, and the
result is an optical component that allows far less signal
loss than today’s networks, according to the company.
Aaron Bent, the company's executive vice president, said
Continuum demonstrated the technology to potential customers
at an industry tradeshow in March. He said the company has
some demonstration units now, and hopes to be ready for
manufacture by early 2003. Continuum already has an agreement
with Applied
MEMS Inc. of Stafford, Texas, to make its micromachined
components.
The idea of smart ceramics is not entirely new. Researchers
first studied the concept in the 1990s, believing that
piezoelectric ceramics could use changes in electrical fields
to control the ceramic structure’s function. But early
research found that most such ceramics were too brittle to be
useful.
Nesbitt Hagood, Continuum’s chief technology officer, said
Continuum’s MEMS approach solves that problem and allows for a
“stiff” signal actuator. Continuum says the resulting signal
loss is only 1 decibel; other technologies can be in the range
of 7 decibels.
Harry
Tuller, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology who studies piezoelectric ceramics, said the hurdle
for a technology like Continuum’s is to ensure that the
ceramic materials work on a silicon platform. Otherwise,
physical forces acting on the structure can warp the parts.
“Most of the challenge … is the integration of a ceramic
technology onto a film technology,” he said.
Continuum will also face the usual manufacturing worries
about stiction, aging effects and inconsistencies among each
batch of switches made, Tuller added. “Can you reproduce it in
batch manufacturing? That’s the key.”
Continuum’s investors believe the company can solve those
problems and create a product useful in the telecom world even
in today’s awful industry climate. Steve Ricci, an investor
with OneLiberty Ventures who is on Continuum’s board of
advisers, said enough demand exists even now to generate some
revenue – not much, but sufficient for a small shop like
Continuum.
Ricci also said the management team’s record of creating
real products eases an investor’s worried mind. “The
creativity and tenacity of the people were encouraging,” he
said. “They really demonstrate what it takes to make a
product. That gave comfort.”
Company file: Continuum Photonics
Inc.
(last updated Nov. 4,
2002)
Company
Continuum
Photonics Inc.
Headquarters
5 Fortune Drive
Billerica,
Mass., 01821
History
Several MIT engineers founded Continuum
in the summer of 1998 to develop vibration-dampening
applications for the aerospace and defense industries. The
company later developed an energy-absorbing chipset for tennis
rackets, and has now moved into the telecom sphere, building
subsystems for optical networking original equipment
manufacturers.
Industry
Fiber optics; photonics
Employees
42
Small tech-related products and services
Continuum is developing a MEMS-based ceramic optical
switch designed to reduce signal loss. The switch would be
marketed to telecom giants such as Cisco, Nortel and Lucent.
To develop this switch, Continuum is using proprietary DirectLight
SmartSilicon technology, bringing together “smart”
materials, microfabrication techniques and low-loss, redundant
electronics.
Management
Jeffrey Farmer: chief executive officer
Aaron Bent: executive vice president of business
development
Nesbitt Hagood: chief technology officer
Selected strategic partners and customers
Tennis racket maker Head NV (chipset customer)
Applied
MEMS (fabrication partner)
Revenue
Continuum says it brings in several
million dollars a year due mainly to licensing arrangements
such as the Head relationship. According to VentureSource (a
VentureOne client publication), the company earned $2 million
in revenues during 2000 and $6 million during 2001.
Investment history
Self-funded for over two
years, Continuum closed a $1.7 million seed round in the fall
of 2000. That round was led by the Massachusetts Technology
Development Corp. and included private investors as well
as Arcadian Capital Management and Gainesborough LLC. In May
2002, the company garnered $14.2 million in funding from its
original investors and new participants Harris
& Harris Group, Flagship Ventures
and Prism
Venture Partners (the latter two firms co-led the round).
Barriers to market
The telecom market remains in
a major slump.
Selected competitors
Agere
Systems Inc.
Alcatel
Tellium
Inc.
Goals
Short-term: Develop a final model ready
for mass-manufacture by 2003. Long-term: Sell the switch to
vendors such as Lucent, Cisco Systems and Nortel.
Why they're in small tech
“There’s a certain
function we want to do, that you can’t do any other way," said
Nesbitt Hagood, chief technology officer. "We’d love to try
other technology, but you need MEMS to do this.”
What keeps them up at night
“The market
conditions," said Aaron Bent, executive vice president. "How
quickly will carriers start spending on next-generation
technology?”
Contact
URL: http://www.continuumphotonics.com/
Phone: 978-670-4910
Fax: 978-670-4915
E-mail: Selected relevant patent
Composites
for structural control
Recent news
Continuum
Photonics raises over $14 million in second round of
financing
Applied
MEMS to develop Continuum’s switches
– Research by Gretchen McNeely
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